We must catch a small glimpse of two areas of the Christian’s personal accountability before God: personal sin and personal stewardship. Christians are not sinless people! The Bible does not hide this fact. Noah was a sinner. Abraham was a sinner. Isaac was a sinner. It appeared that Jacob’s life was filled with deceit. David was a sinner. Paul said that in his flesh dwelt no good thing (Romans 7:15–20). Peter actually denied His Lord three times (Matthew 26:69–75).
When Jesus came to earth, He went to where sinners were. He hung out with the likes of despised tax collectors, prostitutes, fishermen, lepers, and the common people. He stayed away from the religious crowd.
The Bible never sugarcoats the lives of God’s people. God paints us with warts and all! Our nature to sin is tied to our physical body (Romans 7:18). It doesn’t take a theologian to understand that as long as we remain connected to this body, we will retain both the temptation and capacity to sin. As the songwriter so eloquently said, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.”
Our flesh continuously wars against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. This provides a constant source of inner conflict (Galatians 5:17). Until death or the snatching away of the body of Christ, this conflict will go on. The mature believer is consciously aware that the potential to sin is ever present. Along with that knowledge is the awareness that sin always has its consequences. Personal sin results in the discipline of God.
Even though we are saved forever by God’s amazing grace, God is a holy God, and He must remain holy. He must always adjust that which is not right to His absolute righteous standard. His righteousness demands it. God never turns a blind eye to sin. God told Israel to go in and take the Promised Land. The people were ready to comply. They knew that it would mean they would have to fight for it, but they were ready. They told Moses what they planned to do once the land was theirs. They would build sheepfolds for their livestock and cities for their children. They had been slaves for 400 years. This was a very exciting time for them. With this in mind, they were ready to arm themselves and march out. They said they would not return until every one of them had received the inheritance that was theirs.
Moses said that what they had in mind was commendable. If they would do this, God would drive out their enemies. They would then return blameless before the Lord. But what would happen if they did not follow through? “But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Please let this small warning resonate in your mind. It is never possible to hide our sin from God – never.
God was moving Israel into the land that He had promised them. Under the leadership of Joshua, Israel began to destroy the Canaanites. When the Jews came to Jericho, God miraculously gave Jericho into their hands. Rahab’s life and the lives of her family were spared because she had hidden Israel’s spies. God told the Jews that all the gold and silver and bronze and iron were to be placed into the tabernacle (Joshua 6:24). But note these words: “But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel” (Joshua 7:1).
This was one of those quiet secret sins that seemingly no one knew about or certainly wouldn’t much care. It was just a small thing according to our standards today but not according to God. His character was in the balance. He must always judge sin – always. His integrity can never be compromised. God had said, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” And the God who cannot lie meant what He said. Though no one in Israel was aware of Achan’s sin, God knew. Stay safe and stay tuned.